A Republican lawmaker was rebuked on the House floor on Thursday after he referred to Black people as “colored people”.
Rep. Eli Crane (R), a freshman lawmaker from Arizona, used the offensive phrase during a debate over his proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Crane’s amendment would bar the Defense Department from requiring participation in training that involves topic about race, gender, religion, political affiliations or what conservatives refer to as “woke” ideology.
“My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not colored people or Black people or anybody can serve. It has nothing to do with any of that stuff,” Crane said.
“The military was never intended to be, you know, inclusive. Its strength is not its diversity. Its strength is its standards,” he added.
After Crane’s comments Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, asked that the phrase ‘colored people’ be stricken from the record.
“I find it offensive and very inappropriate,” said Beatty. “I am asking for unanimous consent to take down the words of referring to me or any of my colleagues as colored people.”
Crane responded by asking to amend his comments to say “people of color.” But Beatty insisted that the words be stricken, not altered.
The lawmaker presiding over the chamber consented.
Crane later said in a statement that he “misspoke” The Hill reports.
“In a heated floor debate on my amendment that would prohibit discrimination on the color of one’s skin in the Armed Forces, I misspoke,” he said. “Every one of us is made in the image of God and created equal.”
Crane’s amendment was adopted by the House on a 214-210 vote.
